Buckle your seatbelts and get ready for a trip to beautiful Crete, where Israeli couple Dyana, a private chef and entrepreneur, and Asaf, who works in tech, tied the knot with 33 of their nearest and dearest.
In addition to picking an absolute knockout of a location for their Jewish wedding, Dyana and Asaf also did the most amazing job crafting a one-of-a-kind day that was totally them. Though neither are religious, the pair wanted to incorporate Jewish customs into their civil ceremony in a way that felt authentic to who they are – and we adore how they handled the custom of the Seven Blessings.
Rather than go the traditional route, Dyana and Asaf opted to assign 7 loved ones each to create a blessing for the couple in their own words, inspired by the original. Needless to say, the honorees came up with some truly beautiful remarks, and Dyana and Asaf loved how personal these bespoke blessings made their ceremony!
Another wonderful personal touch was Dyana and Asaf’s hand painted ketubah by Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush! The duo loved working with Rachelle, and can’t stop raving about how helpful she was in working with them to customize the text to be specific to their relationship – plus, obviously, the finished product is totally stunning! Don’t miss it in the photos from Alex Dobrovolsky.
There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave the rest to Dyana, who looked so boho chic in her dress by Israeli designer Michal Motil…
How we Met
Dyana, the bride: Asaf and I met June 2015 on birthright. He was the Israeli soldier and I was the young American who just graduated college looking for a summer adventure. We met and pretty much the rest is history.
A Wedding in Crete
We got married at Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa in Elounda, Crete. Why Crete? Our first solo trip together was in a little town called Gouves, Crete and we had a magical weekend there (at ages 21 & 22) and have always reminisced on those memories. We decided to get married a few towns over, and after the wedding we went back to visit the original town and recreated some of those memories we’d been holding onto.
It was even more magical than we remembered. We picked Cayo out of the many amazing resorts in Crete because of its amazing views, rooms, food and when planning from afar the communication with the hotel manager Alexandra was the best from all the hotels we talked to. She went above and beyond to make sure that we saw every detail from afar and helped us to build the wedding of our dreams.
We did the ceremony & reception at the hotel and even stayed for a week! We really wanted it to be a destination wedding where everyone arrives for the weekend and doesn’t need to leave for anything. Every event was near or at the hotel. It was a dream!!! Every room has a pool & the hotel is a spa hotel so it is very beautiful, calm and relaxing. The pool even glitters at night!
Colors of the Sunset
We picked our color scheme based on the colors that make us happy and also the colors of the sunset! which worked out even better than we originally thought the pictures really reflected this. Our theme was peaches/corals and light blues.
Because I’ve been working in the event industry for years I didn’t hire a wedding planner. One of the biggest reasons is because I love negotiating and I am quite good at it. So when it came to planning with the resort and finding vendors I pretty much did that all on my own, with the help of the hotel, my husband and close friends.
A Michal Motil Dress
My dress is from an Israeli Designer called Michal Motil, she specialises in boho glam wedding dresses. I found her when I was looking for brands that were especially size inclusive. I showed up to her studio and It was one of my first fittings and I tried on the dress and just knew. I loved her vibe and how flexible she was making it more about me than the dress! Together we customized the dress to become even more special for me.
We added the corset and I loved that the dress was in pieces, that I can still use after the wedding. The bottom layer is a glitter bodysuit (OMG) made to my measurements, then a skirt in between and then the dress over top and the corset holds everything together. It was super comfortable to wear and I got so many compliments on it!! I then found out she is also a cook & was on the Israeli Master Chef and I knew it was meant to be!!
Accessories & Shoes
I used 2 different veils for the wedding. The first one I used for the ceremony came from my dress designer and had glitter on it. The second one is the actual crown my Grandma wore in her wedding in 1965 and my sister got the veil switched on it to this beautiful glittery veil. I wore that for after the ceremony pictures and beginning of the reception. It was really special that we got to do remakes of pictures of my grandparents and since they couldn’t be there it also felt like I had a piece of them with me on my wedding day!
The jewellery I was wearing was a mix of new and old. Asaf got me a tennis bracelet that he customised for me and gave to me the morning of the wedding. The earrings I was wearing my Dad and Step mom gave me the day before the wedding. The necklace I was wearing my mom passed down to me. Our wedding bands were also really special. Asaf had his custom made by a generations old goldsmith here in Tel aviv.
My wedding band we found in Taormina, Sicily on a trip there in September (one month before the wedding) is one of a kind, in my size and meant to be!!! I wore the Betsey Johnson SB- Mari in Champagne. They were so comfortable and I love the way they sparkle in all my pictures. They were just the right height and I wore them all day.
The handsome groom
Asaf was wearing a beige colored suit from Blue Navy, with a white shirt and light blue bow tie. It was absolutely stunning on the sea background.
Ceremony and Chuppah
So when we were planning our wedding we knew that we wanted to celebrate our love in a special and unique way. Neither of us are very religious however we wanted to incorporate our family traditions and jewish customs in our wedding in our own way. So when we were planning our ceremony – which was a civil ceremony, we decided we wanted to incorporate the 7 blessings. How could we do this in a way where it was special to us and still held tradition?
What we did was we assigned 7 close family members/friends each a blessing to create for us a blessing/toast in their own words. We provided them with the original blessing, a translation/interpretation that we felt comfortable with and the freedom to write their own version of what they would like to say. What we ended up with was a really special ceremony and lots of happy tears. Each blessing was unique and special in its own way and we are so thankful we did it like this. The 7 people included: His parents (together), my mom, my dad, my sister, his sister, a friend of mine and a friend of his.
So in addition to the 7 blessings we personalised the text of our own ketubah which we also read at the wedding – me in english and him in hebrew. We also said our vows, and then finally the city representative married us. Of course he broke a glass as well. As you can understand from our photos, and story we have joined not only the two of us but our families and friends, across cultures, religions and countries. It was a really special weekend and I am really excited to share these details with you and the world.
For the chuppah we actually did an arch with simple flowers in the color theme for the wedding. We really wanted the sea as the background to stand out so we wanted a simple chuppah that would just add to that but not take away from the view. The hotel arranged the arch for us.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was hand painted by the lovely Rachelle from The Delicate Brush! She is amazing and super flexible and her work is just stunning. Asaf and I really wanted to customize the text to be special to us and she was super helpful making this dream come true!!
Our Music Choice
Asaf walked to ‘You make my Dreams (Come True)’ – Daryll Hall & John Oates. I walked to ‘Beautiful Crazy’ by Luke Combs. We smashed the glass and then played – ‘You are the Best thing’ by Ray LaMontagne
Our first dance song : ‘Blessings’ by Florida Georgia Line. Dance with Dad: ‘I loved her first’ by Heartland
We chose these songs because we wanted them to be fun and happy and go along with our vibe. If you listen to the words in Beautiful Crazy it really describes me.
Flowers
I was really chill about the flowers. I just told the hotel I wanted it to be in the color theme or something similar and left the rest to them! I don’t think the flowers are the most important part of the day and I don’t get why people get so crazy about them.
Photographer and videographer
We picked Alex Dobrovolsky based off of his amazing vibe and photos! We had a zoom call with him and his girlfriend (she does the video) and we really enjoyed having them and the pictures came out amazing. We haven’t gotten the video yet but I am sure it will be amazing!
Food and Cake
I am a private chef (@chefdyana) and It was really important to me that the food was amazing for the weekend. I worked with Cayo resort to customize the menu based on all our guests dietary restrictions and also all my crazy requests for a sushi table & oyster tower. It was amazing. Lefteris Lazarou – the first Greek chef awarded a Michelin Star, curates Cayo’s menus.
Extra details
Some other personal & unique things we did for our destination wedding were:
Welcome bags with our personalized logo sweatshirt, favorite bride & groom candies, welcome card & party sunglasses. We had a his and hers cocktail with Cocktail toppers with our logo & hashtag and another one with our dog (Tai-Tai) in a little tuxedo.
We printed a guestbook with pictures from our engagement, engagement party and some pictures throughout the year and had markers for people to sign in between the photos.
The day before the wedding we did a little adventure to the island across the way with the whole wedding party (33 people) and that gave us a special time to spend with everyone and soak up some local history and culture.
The night before the wedding we did a Greek taverna style sit down dinner and this was the opportunity for everyone to do speeches. We were 33 people total so it was a very intimate and emotional evening with lots of happy tears and laughter.
Asaf is obsessed with our pup so another way I included him in the day was I got cookies printed with a picture of him on them for everyone
Asaf and my best friend surprised me during the reception by singing to me, she sang ‘halo’ by beyonce and he sang ‘Lucky‘ by Jason Mraz and ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love with you’.
Asafs parents made us a a video with the whole family – super fun and choreographed and really a personal touch. They showed it to us at the wedding as a surprise after the singing and it was just amazing we were singing ASAFI AND DYANA all weekend
Our hashtags #LightsCameraOhayon , because my last name is Camera and his Ohayon, as a play on Lights Camera Action… we also used the saying “ We Tai-Tai’ed the Knot” on the cocktail toppers and on the website and welcome cards because of our dog Tai Tai.
We used our wedding website to have all the wedding details including our story, color scheme, hotel info , we didn’t use a registry so we put our Paypal info there for honeymoon fund.
I think by now you understand that everything about our wedding was personal and unique. I really loved the experience and I think that part of that was our mental state and how we had a very “whatever happens, happens” attitude for the weekend. Life isn’t perfect, weddings aren’t perfect and the best thing you can do is go with the flow because at the end of the day what matters is that you are marrying the love of your life.
We told ourselves we would have zero expectations for the weekend, however we were blown away by the amazing resort and vibes and just really everything there.
Advice to other couples planning their wedding
If I have any advice for future brides, it would be to build in time throughout your special day or weekend for just you 2. To be present and in the moment. What I mean is, everything goes by so fast and if you don’t stop to take a moment and enjoy it you could miss it.
An example of what we did is we did a special tasting menu of the food and cocktails the day before the wedding in the afternoon and that was a really special moment that we got to enjoy all the food and drinks for the next day together slowly in that moment. We also started our wedding day with a 2 hour scrub, mask and full body massage. Although I was happy crying of excitement during some of it ( the poor masseuses oops) I really enjoyed having this time with him before we went our separate ways to get ready.
DYANA & ASAF’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Alex Dobrovolsky
Ketubah – The Delicate Brush {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa
Bride’s dress – Michal Motil
Bride’s shoes – Betsey Johnson
Groom’s attire – Blue Navy
DJ – DJ Amanda Darling
Catering – Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
